Unknown Time
by CatsPaw
Summary: A new spin on time travel fics, with a seven year old Harry being transported back in time to his parent's seventh year Christmas holiday. Involves Harry’s encounter the magical world and a chance to have a good holiday.
1. Chapter 1

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter One**

          The cupboard under the stairs was as cold as one would expect in late December. Though most would ignore this fact save for the brief visit to hide gifts for someone or to store something. However, if the cupboard happened to be your place of residence then the cold became ignorable for other reasons. Harry Potter did not realize the cold as he fingered the Christmas card his teacher had sent home with him. The cold became tolerable through the many times he was confined to the cupboard, his most recent punishment occurring due to the fact that his teacher's wig had somehow turned blue and he, Harry, was blamed. He did not remember the extent of his punishment; Uncle Vernon had given him so many punishments that one was not distinguishable from another. 

          Harry was determined to keep the letter unopened until Christmas because it could be considered a present. Harry's cousin, Dudley, had thrown his out having no use for a piece of paper that wished him a happy holiday, knowing he would receive better presents and did not want to inconvenience himself with the card. Harry, however, did not expect any other gifts, so he felt that he should save himself something to open Christmas morning, which was an eternity of two days away. 

          Harry was both confused and excited when he saw the card in the folder that the school sent home weekly. The teacher usually gave out the cards, a generic, mass-produced Christmas cards, but Harry was usually overlooked.  No one, including the teacher, seemed to care about him beyond the fact that he was breathing, and Harry expected that this teacher hated him even more than the others since his wig somehow turned blue. Yet Harry had been given the card. He quickly removed the card from the folder sent from school upon his discovery of it, not wanting the Dursley's to confiscate it. 

          Harry opened the envelope as his willpower gave out. His hand wavered above the card, curious yet wanting to wait before he opened it. As his hand closed around the card he felt a strange sensation and felt himself fall to the ground. 

As he fell to the ground Harry had closed his eyes and briefly wondered how he could have fallen when the entire cupboard was taken up by the makeshift cot he slept on. Opening his eyes and standing up Harry saw that not only was he no longer in his cupboard, but he was out of doors. Furthermore, he saw mountains; he did not know of any mountains like that near his home. He got to his feet the card dropping from his hand, staring at the mountains. 

          Harry did not notice anyone around him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, quickly spinning around shifting his gaze from the mountains to three teenage boys and falling from his feet again. The middle boy knelt down and offered his hand to Harry.

          "Are you alright?" He asked. He received a nod in response. "Are you lost?"  The boy continued to question. Harry nodded again staring fearfully at the boy, who seemed to him an adult with his size as he was pulled to his feet.

          "Would you like help finding your parents?"

           "They've been dead since I was little."

           The boy was silent for a while, momentarily turning to his companion on his left and exchanging a quick look before introducing himself.

           "Well, I'm Sirius Black, this" he motioned to the right, "is Remus Lupin, and this," he motioned to the other boy, "is Peter Pettigrew. What is your name?"

           "Harry Potter," Harry managed to say. He was quickly fearful of what his aunt and uncle would say. They had always forbid him from talking to strangers. At school the teachers always warned the students not talk to strangers, but the Dursley's did not want Harry to talk to anyone, especially strangers. His thoughts must have appeared on his face because Sirius's voice broke into his thoughts. Harry focused again on the boys, realizing Peter was not there anymore. 

           "Peter went to go get some stuff that we forgot," Sirius said with a smile, noticing where Harry was looking and leading Harry down the street of the village. "Remus and I thought you looked cold so we are going to go to the pub for a drink. Is that alright with you?" Sirius smiled again as Harry noticed that the two boys were on either side of him leading into a pub before he could read the sign on the door. Harry remained quiet while ushered to a table in the back of the pub and was placed in a chair facing the back of the pub. 

           After a quick word with Sirius, Remus sat down opposite Harry, looking at him intently. The gaze was unfamiliar, calculating yet friendly. Harry's mind drifted back to the Dursley's when Remus's voice disrupted Harry's thoughts again and began questioning him. The questions began with the basis of trying to figure out where Harry lived so that he could be returned home safely. As Harry continued answering the questions he began to reveal a bit more about himself. He inwardly did not want to answer all of the questions for fear that he would be punished by the Dursleys, yet Harry trusted Remus or was that his charismatic and determinate way of asking questions. The questions did not seem to come with order so that Harry had no time to think about what he was telling the stranger, nor did he have time to register why the questions were being asked of him. Harry ended up revealing the fact that he lived with his aunt and uncle; as much as he knew about the location of the house, which was very limited; his limited knowledge of his parents that they died in a car crash; his age and year of birth; and other details about his life. 

           Harry was confused when Remus stopped speaking and looked over his shoulder before he realized that Sirius must be back with the drinks. Sirius quickly moved to a spot where Harry had to remain focus towards the back of the pub and started handing out drinks. Harry was astonished when he was given the first mug. He waited for the rest of the drinks to be passed out before start drinking. Giving Remus his drink Sirius turned to Harry again.

           "Don't wait for us to have our drinks; start drinking." With a slight blush Harry raised his mug to his lips and felt a warmth rush through his body and began to feel slightly light-headed. Sirius made a comment to Remus that Harry didn't catch and placed his drink next to his seat which was on the other side of Harry from where he was sitting. Harry only slightly registered Sirius walking around his chair before he began to fall into unconsciousness. The last thing Harry remembered was that Remus reached across the table to take his mug and pair of arms fasten around him as he slumped towards the table.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: ****Feel free to e-mail me about anything. I love e-mail and it beats my school work, which I should be doing rather than this, but hey I don't really care. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter Two**

Sirius caught Harry as he fell forward, leaving the unconscious body to lean on the table. The back table was out of sight from the rest of the tables; however Sirius and Remus magically rotated it so that Harry was further hidden from view by their bodies. ****

It was the day before Christmas Holiday started and a large portion of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were allowed to visit the village of Hogsmeade. The two boys had been joined by another friend before a small boy had appeared in the middle of the lane. The boy seemed frightened and looked remarkably like their friend, James Potter; added to the puzzle was the fact that the boy's name was Harry Potter. Peter had left Harry with Sirius and Remus while he returned to the school and to borrow some items from their friend that might be useful in smuggling the boy back into the school. The three decided that it would most likely take longer than the afternoon to return the boy to his home and they believed it best to think things out first. He seemed to display a shock at his surroundings that a magical child, raised with magical forms of travel, would not have. The connection with their friend and what they guessed to be a Muggle, or non-magical, upbringing led them to give Harry a sleeping potion once they had found out some information about him. At the very least they reasoned that Harry seemed in need of a good sleep.

The two boys took their seats and remained in quiet thought for a few minutes. Though The Three Broomsticks was quite busy due to many students attendance the atmosphere of the back table seemed remarkably quiet. The small noises such as the clink of a mug seemed enhanced and it startled Sirius when Remus broke the silence.

"We were right." Sirius glanced at Remus in amazement for a few seconds, letting the words sink in. They had had previously come up with no explanation of how Harry ended up in their lives or his connection to their friend, for there obviously was one. Sirius looked quizzically at his friend before Remus continued.

"I'm fairly certain that he is James's son, well his and Lily's son. He says he is from 1987, though I didn't ask him directly. He also says that he lives with Lily's sister and her husband, who appear to be raising him as a Muggle." Sirius listened intently as Remus continued. "I'm guessing that Lily and James died with some connection to magic. Harry says they died in a car crash, but I don't see that happening. From Lily's stories about her sister, however, it does appear that she would mislead Harry to keep him from knowing the truth."

There was another moment of silence before Sirius, who would usually have come up with a jocular or teasing comment about knowing that his best friend would have a son with his girlfriend, remained quiet at the severity of the rest of the information that Harry brought with him.

"Where should we take Harry?" Sirius questioned trying to focus on what needed to be done. "He can stay in Gryfindor Tower with us once term ends. I think the four of us are the only ones staying here."

"Lily's staying," Remus interjected. "She doesn't want to spend more time than necessary with her sister's fiancé, not that I blame her. She decided to stay at the last minute. I think you're right, though, other from that we're the only ones who'll be here. I guess we should take him to one of the secret rooms we've found, so we don't need to worry about anyone seeing him."

"I'd say the best bet is that room in the library; we haven't seen anyone using it. It has that couch and we can research how Harry got here, while we figure out how to tell Lily and James that they die in a few years leaving their son to live with Lily's sister." 

"Well, if you put it like that." Remus said with a suppressed a grin, "I wouldn't fancy being you dealing with their reactions."  

The seriousness of their conversation broke and the two began to revert to the more lighthearted manner that usually occurred within the group of friends. The usual manner was easily replaced by the serious manner, in which the two were discussing earlier, and the two manners were usually used intertwined in a conversation causing others to view the boys incapable of carrying out a serious conversation; however, when faced with an important situation the necessary discussion was carried out.

"Well I wouldn't tell them like that; I don't know about you though." Sirius countered, receiving a glare from Remus. "But we do need to tell them someway, whether they like it or not. You know we're not going to keep this a secret from them." 

"And this is where you're brilliant plan of postponing telling them comes into play? Wait until the last possible moment before we have to tell them about everything?"

"No, let them finish whatever they decided to do today, though they really didn't need to spend the day together since it was planned to be their last day together before Lily went home. Now that she has decided that it wouldn't be much of a holiday if she had to spend it with her wonderful sister they have all of the holiday to spend together."

"Well that makes sense." Remus began. "I am worried about how and why Harry got here. If he lived in the world that we would like him to have been in I think we might be able to pass it off as some strange accident of James and yourself, but I don't think that Harry would accidentally stumble across some time travel ability or any other form of magic with his aunt and uncle."

"True." Sirius began with a trace amount of disgust in his voice. "We'll also need to explain to magic to Harry, though it might be best to leave that job to his parents." 

"Trying to get out of doing the hard jobs by forcing others to do it?" It was then that another presence in the back of the pub was made known, as an invisibility cloak and piece of parchment were dropped onto the table. Startled, Sirius and Remus jumped and turned to see their friend slumped into the fourth seat at the table. 

"With that and postponing the difficult conversations, it seems Sirius can't do anything too difficult; we need to make sure everything is at his level." Remus said with a grin.

"Hey!" Sirius protested. Remus and Peter both shared a laugh at the indignation on Sirius's face. "At least my proposition had us doing something useful, rather than sitting around here with you two insulting me."

"What was his plan?" Peter whispered to Remus. "Is there anyway that we could follow his plan, yet continue insulting him?"

"He wants to take Harry to the library and research Harry got here. I'm sure we could find something to tease him about there." Remus said, and then with a scan of the pub he continued in a low whisper so that only his friends could hear him. "I think that Sirius's idea is good though. I think we may start attracting attention soon." Turing to Peter he added, "We'll tell you what we know when we get there. I don't want to risk being overheard. Sirius you should take Harry under the cloak and we'll make sure we don't run into … anyone we don't want to."

In unspoken agreement the three boys then made ready to leave: standing up, Sirius walked around the table to lift Harry to his arms, Peter took the cloak and covered Sirius and Harry with it, and Remus activated the map. No one bothered them as they left the pub and walked down the High Street back to Hogwarts.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. It really helped to get me writing more, knowing that people enjoyed the story.******


	3. Chapter 3

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter Three**

The library held one of the many secret rooms of Hogwarts; not many rooms were designed to be secret rather the need of certain rooms fluctuated throughout the thousand year history of the school. This particular room appeared to be designed as a room that students either took breaks in while studying in the library or actually studied in depending on the century. The room was most recently rediscovered by a group of boys who spent countless hours in the library. The entrance was found while looking for a book, which held theory about the teaching of an advanced form of Care of Magical and Muggle Creatures, specifically specializing in animal behavior. It was one of the many books on magical theory that the discoverers had read that year, though this book was in a section in the far corner of the library that was nestled far enough from the main section of the library that very few people ever visited. 

The room itself had not been used for many years if not centuries; the room that was once lavishly decorated was now abandoned and derelict. Two couches faced each other with a center table; there were also study carrels for individual studying. The room was a wonderful find for those who spent numerous hours in the library researching an illegal topic. The room was refurbished and was used often for private studying. Books were stored where no one would be the wiser that they were being read or even carefully studied. Many hours had gone into the study of advanced transfiguration, theory, and any other necessary material that would aide them to their goal of becoming animagi, accomplished a few years after the room was found.

Harry was laid across the couch in the back room and Sirius made to leave the room. Peter and Remus made slight movements as though to stop him, but changed their mind at the sight of his face.

"I'll go and start looking for books." Sirius said in the doorway, not bothering to look back. "Catch up with me once you explain everything to Peter." Without receiving a reaction Sirius left the room. Peter and Remus stared at the closed door in silence for a while. The two knew that Sirius needed to be doing something when he was upset and did not argue. Previously, Sirius had the task of getting Harry to the castle occupying his mind; however, that task was completed. Now the boy, to whom Sirius felt the need to protect, was not in any immediate danger, the full implications of the information gathered from Harry seemed to be racing around Sirius's mind. His friends knew him well enough to allow him to think this over since Sirius tended to get worked up over small details. 

"What is going on?" It was Peter who broke the silence. He had less information to mull over in his mind than the others whom seemed preoccupied at the moment. 

Remus cleared his mind of the thoughts of Harry and explained all of information that they knew about the situation with Harry. At the end of explanation Peter sat there with his mouth open for a few seconds before he closed it. 

"We should go help Sirius," Peter said, as Remus had taken the time Peter was silent to return to his musings. Remus nodded and they left the room, with a final look back at Harry, who was still asleep on the couch. 

The library held less people than usual owing to the fact that it was the last day of term; however there were still a few students whom decided to visit the library the day before the holiday. The tables were inhabited by students who were looking for books so that they could study over the holidays and students who wanted to finish their work prior to the holiday and not have thoughts of school work looming over the horizon. Sirius walked through the occupied tables to a pedestal near the front of the library, leafing through a thick book in front of him; this book held all the information about the library. Most students tended to ignore it, preferring to wander through the main sections of the library to find what they need rather than consulting the complicated, dusty volume. However there were those who chose to read it, looking for the more complicated sections and books. Since Sirius had used this book regularly for six years he had learned the art of gaining knowledge from it without much trouble; he started the intricate process of locating the position in the library. 

"Sirius?" Sirius was carefully making his way toward on of the many far corners of the library, in the opposite direction from the secret room when he heard his name called. The sound of his name broke the concentration and brought his thoughts back to the library and he found himself faced with a girl from his year and Lily's best friend, Jane Canaday. 

"What are you doing here?" 

"Nothing," was Sirius's only response; his face continued to look distracted.

"Well, I'm going to back up to Gryffindor Tower. I'll see you around." Jane said leaving the library, a trace of concern in her voice. Sirius bid her farewell and continued to the section on time travel, where he began to create a pile of books that might help him figure out what was going on. 

This situation was one of the many in recent years that seemed to test Sirius's ability to remain in control of the direction of his life. This situation in particular seemed worse than the other hints of terror that on the outside of Hogwarts that had been growing steadily worse for the past seven years. This boy was the embodiment of Sirius' worst fears; his fears that everything that he cared about being destroyed. Though, Harry and his life seemed to be a consequence of the ruin that Sirius seemed to see as his own future.

There were two forces acting in Sirius: one to protect this boy from future harm, sheltering Harry from any evils that he had yet to encounter and another to try and protect his own world from becoming the ruin that this child portrayed. The former force held very little weight in his mind. Sirius's main concerns were always for those he cared about, this boy was someone whom he expected that he loved yet didn't know. This boy had so obviously grown up with out the love that he deserved and was expected, especially Sirius thought, for one in the family of his closest friends. 

A question that Remus had brought up also continued to plague Sirius's mind. "I am worried about how and why Harry got here. I don't think that Harry would accidentally stumble across some time travel ability or any other form of magic with his aunt and uncle." Harry's family obviously kept Harry as far from magic as possible, and it was impossible that Harry himself could have performed the necessary magic. The question was who had managed to penetrate his Muggle relations to carry out the magic and why they would remove Harry from that time period. Sirius was concerned that the rational would be just that, to remove Harry, for some reason. If that was the case, Sirius believed, Harry needed to be returned to his time period, no matter how much it pained him to think about Harry's life.

Remus and Peter soon arrived to help Sirius compile the stack of books ranging from theory, history, actual time travel spells, and anything that might help them to discern the methodology by which Harry was transported to their time. The pile quickly began to grow and they made their way back towards the center of the room laden with mounds of books. 

The three walked back through the main library area whispering to each other in hushed voices. They did not notice anyone around them until the top book was lifted from Sirius's pile.

"_Beyond the Timeturner: Clarifying the Uncommon Methodologies of Time Travel?" Lily's voice read the title of the book she was holding. "May I ask what you intend to do with this and the rest of these books on time travel? That's an issue with rather serious legal consequences."_

The three stared at Lily who was standing near James, brandishing the book. They had lost all hope of breaking the news to the two in a completely gentle fashion. They just stood there and stared, unsure how to continue.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: This chapter is dedicated to angelwriter14 for being understanding, wonderful, and many other good things this past week. *hugs ****Ness***** Thanks!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter 4**

The five people stared at each other for a long time. It was when Lily opened her mount to continue to chastise the three boys whom were looking rather guilty Sirius began to lead her off towards the secret room before she could start to speak.

          "We'll explain exactly what we're up." Sirius said looking around the room to make sure that no one was listening. "Just give us some time so that we can explain it to you somewhere private where we can't be overheard. You see, there was …an unusual occurrence when we were in Hogsmeade. We are just trying to fix it."

          Lily's eyes widened at this statement. "What did you lot do this time? Is anyone injured?"

          "What makes you assume we injured someone?" Sirius said defensively. "Besides it was not our fault. You just assume that everything that happens to us is our fault."

          "You must admit that much of the stuff that happens to us is our fault, Padfoot." James reasoned, walking with Peter and Remus behind Sirius and Lily.

          "I know that and I don't even know most of what you all do." Lily said.

          "Sirius is right, though," Remus spoke up in Sirius' defense. "This isn't like all the other times that were our fault. We didn't do anything this time. At least we don't think we did. We just ran into the problem, actually Sirius seems to be the one to involve us in the problem."

          "It's always Sirius, isn't it?" James said with a grin. "So, you were just minding your own business when this problem appeared out of no where and you had to get involved?"

          "Yeah, something like that." Peter said hiding a grin at how close to the truth James' description of the events was.

          "Well, that is a rather accurate description of what happened." Remus remarked. "If you just add a few more details then you would have the exact description of what happened."

          "You do realize that I wasn't being serious about that." James said with an intrigued look at his friends. 

          "Yes, we realize that you meant the comment was a joke, but it was what happened. I thought you realized that sometimes people don't go looking for trouble but that trouble finds them."

          Lily was walking along side of the boys, listening to their conversation. She smiled at the dynamics of the friendship, since friendship at that magnitude was rather rare. 

Even Lily who been known to haunt the library at times was surprised at the knowledge that the boys had of the library. She had been to a far corner of the library once, but she had used the map of the library to do so. They seemed to be wandering through the labyrinthine aisles with ease. She was astonished when they entered a well used room this far in the back of the library.

Lily stood in the doorway for a moment surveying the room. Sirius had already entered and went to place his pile of books on the table in the center of the room. Lily started as she felt her boyfriend's hands leading her into the room, so that the others could enter as well. James was smiling in amusement at her look of awe. Suppressing a blush, Lily looked towards the center of the room where the other three boys had gathered after depositing their book and her mouth dropped open at the sight of one of the couches that Sirius had been previously blocking.

"Was kidnapping part of this situation that wasn't your fault?" she said accusingly, looking at the three boys, the limits of what she believed them capable of was expanding. 

          "Yes, I guess we did kidnap him," said Sirius angrily. "But if you knew the whole story …"

          "Fine then," Lily said with an edge in her voice. "Enlighten us with the whole story." Lily than sat down on the couch opposite the one with the sleeping child and glared at Sirius. James joined her, surveying his friends with a calculating look; he knew that they were trying to explain the situation, having been included at other times when all four of them needed to give explanations. James also knew that the situations that he and his friends got into usually were not the easiest to explain.

          "Well, this all starts when were in Hogsmeade, getting ready to come back to the castle." Remus said. When coming up with an interesting explanation Sirius or James usually did the explaining; however, when a truthful explanation needed to be given Remus tended to assume the role as narrator. Often the roles would be rotated to keep people guessing which were true explanations and which were false. Lily paid rapt attention to Remus' face; James, on the other hand was looking curiously at Harry's face.

          "This boy, Harry, is the problem that appeared out of no where, as James put it. He didn't know how he got there and seemed rather lost. Peter went back to the castle to get the cloak and the map, while Sirius and I took him to The Three Broomsticks. We knew that we were not going to return him to his home soon and he was panicking, so we gave him a sleeping potion. We'll be able to get him home safely once we've sorted things out"

          "But, what about his parents?" Lily asked. "Are you going to ignore them, surely they are worried about their son? I thought that you would at least have the decency to think about the repercussions of your actions."

          "Yes, we did think about his parents." Remus said in a strange tone. He looked like he was choosing his next words carefully.

 James caught Sirius's eye, pointed at himself and then at Harry. Sirius slowly nodded and pointed at Lily with a mischievous grin. James' sight followed the finger and couldn't help but smile.

 "However, he doesn't live with his parents, but with his aunt and uncle."

          "Why?" James asked quickly. "Why would he ever live with his aunt and uncle?"

          "James, be quiet and let Remus explain." Lily interrupted before James could continue to question the rationale of Harry's housing. "You know what everything is like. I bet his parent's died. I would guess that he was sent to live with them since they were his family." She glanced at Harry's sleeping form; he looked peaceful and familiar.

          The room was silent after Lily's statement. Sirius, Remus, and Peter looked awkward; this was explaining everything faster than they had intended to. James was looking questioningly at his three friends, Lily's point made sense the world had been getting darker. 

         "Yes," Sirius said breaking the silence. "Harry said that his parents died in a car crash when he was little. He also doesn't seem to have any knowledge of the magical world."

          "A car crash?" James said curiously, staring intently at his friends. "Why would his parents die in a car crash?"

          "Muggles often die in car crashes, James." Lily said wondering what her boyfriend knew that she didn't. "He sounds like a Muggle, but you made it sound like he arrived with a portkey."

          "His aunt and uncle are Muggles." Peter said. "We don't think he is

          "So his aunt and uncle lied to him? Typical," James muttered. "I guessing that you are assuming that his parents' death was magical."

          "Yes, but that is about all we know." Remus said. Lily, however, was frustrated; everyone in the room seemed to have some sort of understanding about what was happening and remembered that time travel had something to do with this mess.

         "What is going on?" She asked, her eyes widened in slight understanding and drifted again towards Harry. She felt James arms pull her into a hug as she comprehended what was going on, and she did not want to let go. If she understood what the boys were saying, than he would die. Even with all the rumors floating into the castle and the knowledge that they would be leaving at the end of the year, she did not seriously think about the death of anyone she cared about. She began to cry into James' shoulder. 

          "Shh," He quieted her knowing that she understood. Then still holding her, he turned to his friends. "When is Harry from? I'm also assuming that the Dursleys' have not changed much." 

          "Ten years," Remus answered. "And, no, the Dursleys' sound the same as always from Harry's behavior." Lily broke away from James at the moment and look quizzically at Remus.

          "How would Harry know them?" She said with distaste in her voice.

          "Well, James doesn't have any siblings and Petunia's your only sister." Sirius said casually, then seeing Lily's still confused look. "Well, who else would Harry's mother be? I mean look at James. You don't have to hear him talk about you …" Sirius stopped when a book collided with the side of his head; he looked up to see James with a smirk and another book in his hands.

          "Sirius does have a point, Prongs." Peter said, ducking behind one of the couches to avoid an airborne book. "It's a wonder that any of us can get to sleep at night with you …"

          "I don't talk that much!" James interrupted looking furious and getting up from his position on the couch and climbing across the table to reach the other boys and began chasing them around the room.

          "Lily?" Remus asked. "Are you alright?" Lily grinned and looked towards the chase. 

          "Yes," she said. "Perhaps we should go have dinner before the three of them wake Harry up or we miss dinner."

          "No," Remus said with a laugh. "We should leave them there. Don't worry about that; Harry won't wake up until morning. There really isn't much we can do tonight, besides sift through the information." Lily and Remus then left the library and headed towards the great hall for dinner leaving Harry to sleep.****

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!**

**Just so people know I am changing this to be all of chapter five. The rest of what I wanted to use for this chapter is too long to be a continuation of this chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter 5**

When Harry woke up he felt strange; he was warm and comfortable, two very foreign concepts when waking up. His eyes remained closed for a few minutes thinking; he woke up on his own and not to his aunt banging on the door. Why hadn't he been forced to cook breakfast?

Harry opened his eyes and felt his stomach drop; the memories of the previous day rushed back to him. He remembered that he was lost and wondered what his aunt and uncle were going to do to him. They surely were not going to enjoy him spending the night in a strange place with strange people. He didn't remember how he got to this room; the last thing he remembered was a man buying him a drink in a pub. 

He certainly was not in a pub at the moment. He was nestled in make-shift bed on a couch laden with many blankets. He noticed his glasses on a table covered with books and put them on. The rest of the room came into focus. At one end light came from a fireplace, which both illuminated and heated the room. 

He was most startled when he looked out from the couch; a woman that he didn't know was asleep. Harry was worried that he was going to awaken and anger her. He sat down staring at her; she seemed very pretty.

Harry also noticed a few plates with food on them and pitchers of what looked like juice with a few glasses. He stared at the plates for awhile; he was hungry but thought that he would get in trouble for eating anything. His eye fell on a note next to the food. Harry's curiosity won for the second time in the past day and he reached out to read it:

Lily-

Good Morning! I hope you had a wonderful rest, and didn't spend too much time worrying about everything. It will work out. I promise.

After our discussion last night at dinner we decided that we would sneak into Hogsmeade and pick up some robes. We won't get caught, don't worry! 

We picked this food up from the kitchens this morning. We thought that you and Harry would be hungry. The plates are charmed to refill, so that you can stop worrying and make sure that Harry eats as much as he wants. We noticed that you were complaining about that last night.

Harry was confused; as long as he remembered no one had worried about how much he ate. His aunt often told him that he was too skinny, but never did anything about it, let alone make sure he ate as much as he could.

We didn't get much reading done this morning because we were worried about waking the two of you. I love you.

          - J.P, S.B., R.L., P.P.

These people seemed to care about him, which seemed stranger to him than the content. The content itself was strange enough though this new sensation of people worrying seemed to fill his mind leaving no space to worry about the content. For several minutes Harry stared at the letter; rereading it just to be certain that he had not misread it. It was the rustle of blankets that lifted Harry's letter induced stupor. As quickly and as quietly as he could Harry lay the letter back down on the table and attempted to lie back down on the couch to pretend that he was asleep. Harry waited for a few minutes after he first heard a noise, since the girl had not made any sounds of movement after that. Had he imagined it? Harry desperately searched his mind to think whether people moved while they were asleep. As far as Harry knew was that movement usually meant that his aunt was awake and wanted him to get up. 

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Unknown Times**

**Chapter 6**

Harry lay motionless on the couch covered in the blanket, as he pretended to be asleep. His eyes were hidden and facing in toward the couch, but his ears were alert and trying to pick up on everything that the other girl in the room was doing. She had apparently not been moving in her sleep, but rather getting up. He tuned into her every movement, as he could hear them.

The girl first sat up, and Harry felt her gaze on him. He tried to keep still, until her gaze shifted from him, and eventually it did, as he heard her pick up the note that he had been reading earlier. Harry was worried that she would notice that he had read it, but it turned out that that he needn't have worried. Harry heard her give a barely noticeable laugh while reading the piece of paper.

 He briefly recalled that it hadn't seemed like the type of paper that he used at school, but he did use different types of paper at school than his uncle used for his company. , maybe this was just another type of paper. However, it didn't seem right to him. The whole place didn't seem right to Harry. He had to stop his thoughts from drifting. This wasn't the same as the long hours he had spent locked away in his cupboard. During those times Harry did allow his mind to wander; he did not care the exact movements of his aunt, uncle and cousin. Those followed a general routine and Harry had been able to know how his family moved since he was young. However, this was different; Harry needed to focus and find out what was going on. 

The girl put the note down and began to prepare a plate for herself from the heaping plates of food that scattered the table. She stopped and Harry was surprised when, rather than beginning to eat she began to prepare a second plate. Harry searched his mind trying to think of who the extra plate was for. Maybe she was going to give food to the people who had written the note. Though that did not make sense, since when she was done with the second plate she would have picked up a third plate. There was more than one person who wrote that note. Had there been anything in the note about just one of them coming back? Harry then felt stupid as he remembered that the note had specified that the food was for _him_ as well as the girl. 

A hand brushed the side of Harry's head though it hovered for a moment before it rested a top of head; this contact startled Harry. He had been so lost in his own mind that he had not noticed what the girl was doing. Now she was leaning across the table and staring at him intently. Knowing that her attention was focused on him, Harry shivered. The hand was quickly removed in response to Harry's abrupt movement. Now that the hand was gone Harry desired the girl to put it pack. He couldn't understand why, but it felt comfortable … right. Although when fingers ran through his hair a few minutes later, Harry shuddered involuntarily and attempted to bury himself deeper within the couch.

'Are you awake?' the girl's voice came after a moment of hesitant silence. Harry didn't know what to say, and thus remained silent. She pulled herself back from leaning across the table, correctly guessing the state of his consciousness. 

'When you are ready there is some breakfast here for you,' she said in her voice, which was kind and soothing and something that Harry briefly recalled as if from a dream that he had sometimes when he wished for an unknown relation to come take him away from his aunt and uncle. (Though, if he had taken the time to think about it, there were many of these unknown relations that he dreamt of, and this girl's voice _was_ remembered in the back of his mind.) 'I'd like to talk about a few things with you, explain some stuff, when you are ready, but take your time. I'm willing to wait until you are ready.'

Reluctantly Harry rolled over and sat up on the couch since she knew that he was awake; he did not meeting the girl's eyes. Harry's mind had wanted to pretend to stay asleep, wanted nothing more than force the girl to direct her attention at something else, and yet he trusted her more than he had trusted anyone he could remember. The girl was treating him with a concern he had never remembered from his aunt, uncle, teachers, or any other adult that he had ever met. 

'Are you alright?' she asked, her voice still filled with concern and an emotion that Harry couldn't really place. Eyes still focused downwards on the table, Harry nodded. Her statement seemed restrained and he heard the desire to comment more in her voice. Harry was still unfamiliar with the environment of her _actually caring for him_ and felt uncomfortable in the new environment.

'Are you sure? My friends told me that last night you seemed rather worried. It is perfectly OK not to be alright,' she continued, the worry to be sure of _his_ comfort was evident. Harry looked into her eyes, he was amazed that they looked hauntingly familiar, but he couldn't place them out of nerves. He thought that he heard the girl gasp, but it might have been in his imagination. With his attention focused on the girl from her possible gasp Harry noticed that a smile had appeared on her face. She had already been smiling, yet this was a different type of smile. 

'I'd like you to feel comfortable,' she said, still smiling and appeared that she was hoping that she was getting somewhere in communicating with him. 'I need to explain a few things about how you, well, how we _think you ended up in the village yesterday, but I really want you to be feeling comfortable first. Would you like something to eat? You look half starved. Does your aunt feed you properly?' In all the excitement of having the girl talk to him Harry had forgotten about the food, and so, apparently, had she. Harry was genuinely hungry and took the plate from her._

'Thank you,' he murmured. He didn't answer her question. He had heard questions like that before, though never directed at him, in the event of worrying about him. He was wondering briefly why he was so trusting of this girl who he had just met and didn't even know who she was when she started talking again.

'My name is Lily Evans,' she said. The name was somehow familiar, had his aunt or uncle said something about the last name Evans. It was a common surname, Harry thought. 'The things I need to tell you are … strange, a bit unbelievable. Especially, since I know you've grown up with Petunia.' The last part was muttered under her breath, but Harry caught it. How could she possibly know his aunt? Maybe he _had_ heard her name mentioned. Harry didn't comment on this, but was listening carefully. The information seemed rather important.

'Um,' the girl, Lily, seemed to be struggling with her words, attempting to find the right way to explain things. 'Do you believe in magic?'

This had not been what Harry had been expecting.  What sort of question was that? Magic wasn't real, was it? Harry's aunt and uncle and everyone seemed to explain as having a cause, maybe she was not talking about magic magic, but about that performer that Dudley had seen while out for the day on his birthday the year before. Dudley thought the show was amazing and therefore told Harry exactly what he had missed by not being allowed to come.

'Like a magician?' Harry said, his voice confused.

'No,' she said patiently. 'That is not magic. That is all illusions and making people see things that aren't really there. I'm talking about _real magic. Some people being able to do things that others can't. Witches, wizards, things of that sort.'_

Harry was confused. Why was she asking this? His first instinct was that she was trying to tell him that those things were real. They weren't, nothing like that ever happened. But … hadn't unexplained things happened around Harry? Didn't his aunt and uncle get nervous at the mention when things of the sort happened? They seemed to on the lookout for magic, constantly reinforcing the idea that it wasn't real, but what if their talk came from hiding something. She had said something about it being especially unbelievable if he lived with his Aunt Petunia. Did she know something he didn't?

'It can't really be real?' Harry said nervously. 'Can it?' Harry looked uncertain with his conclusions. The doubt that Lily seemed to be trying to place in his mind about everything that his aunt and uncle had ever told him seemed to be showing. She had been patient and his response made her smile.

'Magic _is_ real,' she said calmly. Harry was startled by this revelation, the trust that he had in her had not diminished. Though instinct told him she was lying to him, Harry couldn't help but continuing to place his trust in her. He was even more interested as she continued. 

'I'm a witch.' This he should have had guess from her previous comments, but was surprised and curious. What was she trying to do? Why was she telling him this?

'We are currently in a back room at the school that I go to. It is a school where people learn magic.' The whole idea sounded ridiculous, and yet Harry believed her. Why did he trust her that much?

'Now, there is a whole world that is set apart from people who can't do magic, people like your aunt and uncle.' Harry was confused; why did she only refer to his aunt and uncle?

'These two worlds are connected, but the world that we are in at the moment is rather different. Everyone here knows about magic and most can perform it.  There is also a great deal of … dislike for the other world in both worlds. That is partly why your aunt and uncle don't like things that have to do with magic. Your aunt doesn't like witchcraft or wizardry very much.

'Now, my friends told me that they found you yesterday in the village that is next to the school. They gave you a sleeping potion because they were worried about you and thought that it would be easier for someone to explain magic to you before you saw that everyone in the village demonstrated their magic.' 

Harry was clinging onto her every word, nodding periodically. It seemed to him that he knew what she was saying was true, but couldn't know how he knew it. She appeared to be searching for words again.

'There are also magically ways in which to travel. Adult witches and wizards can Apparate, just disappear and reappear somewhere else, but that is very complicated.' Harry couldn't see where she was going with this, but he wanted to know more about witches and wizards from her and kept listening raptly.

'Younger witches and wizards can use something called floo powder to travel from one fire place to another. Another way to travel is something called a portkey.' She looked intently at Harry. 'Portkeys can be charmed to take a person from one place to a different place when someone touches it.' Harry's mind returned him to the previous day. He had touched the letter and he had been somewhere he was not supposed to be.

'So, was the letter a Portkey?' Harry asked timidly. Lily favored him with a proud smile.

'I think it was, yes,' she said. 'However there is a bit more to the story of what is going on. My friends and I are going to try and send you back to your home, but it will be difficult. You see the letter, was it, did not act in a way that Portkeys usually act. 

'Anyway, my friends and I were planning on having you stay with us.' She had purposefully changed the subject and smiled at him, looking hopeful. 'Now that it is the winter holidays it will just be my friends and I in the tower. If you are willing we'd like you to spend the holiday with us. I can't imagine that your aunt and uncle made your holidays before that great, but we'd love for you to share them with us. Especially until we can get you back home.'

'But my aunt and uncle won't be happy if they find out I'm not there,' Harry said quickly. He knew that his aunt and uncle would surely punish him for this. 

'I promise that we will get you back to your _family without them ever realizing that you were gone. They won't even notice.' She was very reassuring, but…_

'But if I'm gone for a long time, they are going to notice….'

She flashed a grin. 'I'm a witch and I'll be able to make sure that you are safe and not punished. Trust me, we'll get you back to their house and you will be in your room--'

'Cupboard,' He corrected. She scowled for a moment, but then became reassuring again.

'You'll be in your cupboard and no time will have passed to make your aunt and uncle worry.' Harry figured that he should trust her. She did know a lot about magic and he was sure that she could manipulate time to do what she wanted.

Harry trusted that Lily could fix everything with his family; for the time being, she could protect him and keep him safe. Fueled by his new curiosity for the new world that Lily had opened a window to Harry questioned her all about magical things. She had a great supply of knowledge for him and the patience to explain it to him. They spent a great deal of time talking, learning a great deal about each other.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love you all!**

**I'm really sorry about the delay. The story is being written slowly, but it is going to be done. I was really bad not working on this at all possible times. I have learned that train rides are good times to write, but not as good as sitting down and telling myself 'Finish story. NOW!' Of course that only goes to the next bad step,  the problem of revising. **

**This chapter I didn't like. We've seen magic explained to Harry, but it needed to be done in my universe. I tried to make it dfferent, but I have the feeling that it was still repetitive. The chapter also got a bit out of hand and is much longer and makes up for the horribly short last chapter, I hope. Anyway, I made that all Chapter 5 because I didn't like breaking this up and having it all be one chapter would be way too long.**

**Please review, it really does help me convince myself to write. It is really nice to get feedback! Thanks again to those who reviewed. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Unknown Times **

**Chapter Seven**

          The door of the room opened slowly and carefully, as not to intrude on the occupants. The slight creek of the door penetrated the light atmosphere of the room, which quickly reverted it back to the awkward silence that had started the day. It seemed there was a need for Harry to learn to trust each person individually.  

          Lily's head moved diagonally slightly from focusing on Harry to the individual in the doorway; she smiled sympathetically and welcomed James in. He seemed slightly fazed by the less than welcoming environment. However, he did not show seem to be allowing Harry to see this. 

          James had come to tell the two that most of the school had already left the grounds and were now on the train back toward London. The school, now practically empty now allowed them to travel through the corridors to Gryffindor Tower without worrying about other people's reactions to Harry and use the deserted tower to their advantage in order to keep him a secret. James walked slightly in front of the other two down the halls, a rolled up piece of parchment grasped in one of his hands. He kept taking a quick look back to keep an eye on the two. Harry had one hand tightly grasped in Lily's hand as she led him up the corridors. James kept glancing back at Harry, who seemed to try to duck behind Lily whenever he noticed James's gaze on him. Though most of the time he was looking around his surroundings with a strange sort of awe. He seemed fascinated, but determined to stay alert in his awkwardness.

          "So what were you up to this morning?" Lily asked addressing James to break the awkward and unnecessary silence. She was addressing James because she knew that Harry would take some time to adjust to James. He seemed to open up rather quickly, as if he wanted to connect but was still reluctant and worried about doing so. 

          "Oh," James said with a grin. "We've been shopping."

          "What?" Lily exclaimed shocked. "Yesterday was the Hogsmeade day!" 

          "Never stopped us before. I would have thought that you would have known that we knew ways out of the castle."

          "Well I suspected, but I never had any confirmation. And I don't want to know any more. I don't care how often you've snuck out. I also don't need to know what else you've done that is against the rules."

          "What makes you think we've done anything else?" James said in mock outrage. 

          "Your wonderful skills of lying would tell me otherwise." Lily gave her own grin. 

          "I can't believe what you are accusing my friends and me of! We would never dream of sneaking around the castle or doing anything to aide that. Oh and Sirius, Peter, and Remus are sneaking into the kitchens, so that we are able to eat in the Common Room when we get there."

          At certain points James would check the parchment that he had been holding in his hand. He would merely glance at it and lead his two companions down corridors that Lily was not used to, or else used rarely. When asked what the parchment was the only response was "Something you don't want to know about." This satisfied Lily; after knowing him for years she had learned that some things were best left alone despite her curiosity. There was certainly a part of his life that was forever with his friends, and despite their relationship she understood and respected the deep connection that they shared. 

          Harry's grip loosened, as he seemed to be less tense. The visible curiosity for his surroundings seemed to increase as some of his self-consciousness appeared to fade. His expressions were interesting to watch as  he took in everything that was in the castle. It was amazing to anyone; however it must have been that much more magical to someone who was experiencing it for the first time when they had been told repeatedly that this sort of thing did not exist. 

          When they finally climbed through the portrait hole the tables that were scattered throughout the room were filled with different items. One table was piled with food items, presumably brought up from the kitchens where there was never a problem getting any type or amount of food at any point in the day. Sirius sat at a table covered with stacks of books, his face buried in a book, carefully taking notes on a piece of parchment to the side, and oblivious to the group that had just entered the room. He looked up when his name was called and his attention directed outside the book.

          "Sirius! Where are Remus and Peter?" James called, walking toward the table.

          "Upstairs." Sirius nodded towards the staircase behind him. "They're putting away the things we bought today. Figured we shouldn't leave them lying around down here for everyone to see. They'll be down shortly for lunch. Any trouble getting here?"

          "No, we took the long route, not the one that passes through the charms corridor because Flitwick was going somewhere, and there were a few students wandering about."

          "I take it you had no problems getting lost, then," interjected a voice from the doorway behind Sirius. 

          "I only got lost once, and that was _your fault_, not mine." James scowled when his friends snickered. He then grinned, "So no, since no one gave me bad directions I had a perfect time navigating the halls." James was favored with a raised eyebrow as the two descended the staircase.

          Everyone, save Sirius who went back to the book he was reading since he was almost to the end of the chapter he had been reading. No one protested his continued research as they were busy protesting that Harry was the guest and as such should not be helping to set the table for the meal. Harry seemed used to helping out and in the end was allowed to continue helping without further protest. As long as Harry was happy, he could do what he pleased. 

         Lunch itself was fairly uneventful, though by the end of the meal Harry was openly talking with everyone, even if he might not be as outgoing as certain other occupants of the table. Lunch ended when Harry made the offhand comment that he wished to see some magic, and the group relocated to a more comfortable spot, spending the rest of the day demonstrating magic for Harry.

          Harry was thoroughly enchanted by the demonstration. Lily understood Harry's amazement at the new environment having been introduced to the whole wizarding world at once as well, though she knew that Harry's experience was still different from hers, since  her parents had not raiser her with such a dislike for the abnormal. However, she did understand the difference between hearing about the magic and actually witnessing it firsthand. That was a truly magical experience.

          The others did not seem to understand the experience of Harry, growing up with magic being commonplace it was never a shocking new experience but rather a normal way of life. Much of the wizarding world held much more appeal to those who were of Muggle heritage since they got to experience things that previously they had only dreamed of.

          There was a quick break for dinner after Sirius and James disappeared to retrieve it from the kitchens.

           Eventually it was decided that it was time to go to sleep when Harry fell asleep. He was carried upstairs to one of the empty beds in the seventh year boy's dormitory.

**Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Harry Potter. I am writing this to satisfy my own personal "What-If" fantasies. **

**Authors Note: I apologize for the delay. I was a bit busy with school work, but now that school's over I can focus on this. I no longer need to write out complex notes on dates and places different artifacts were found. (I really loved archeology though!) I have job that requires lots of time when I'm merely sitting on the computer. I wanted to post this earlier, but I left my rough copy at home and had to start on the next chapter at work today. **

**I have not gotten a chance to look back and correct capitalization of canon terms, I'm still working on what is capitalized and what is not.**

**However the most important thing is that I want to thank everyone who reviewed, even though I was bad and had not updated. I especially liked Kate's most recent review. So again thank you very much! Love to all!**


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